Laurent Brochard

Laurent Brochard at the 2005 Tour de France

Laurent Brochard

Laurent Brochard (born March 26, 1968 in Le Mans ) is a former French cyclist .

Career

He was already very successful as an amateur in stage races , including winning stages in the Route de France and the Rhineland-Palatinate Tour in 1990 . Brochard turned pro in 1992 and was considered an all-rounder. In his early years he achieved a victory in the Tour du Haut-Var , one in the Limousin Tour , as well as stage wins there and in the Tour of the Mediterranean .

In 1997 Brochard had his breakthrough. He won two stages in the Midi Libre stage race and was successful on the 9th stage of the 1997 Tour de France from Pau to Loudenvielle through the French Pyrenees on July 14th . In the same year he celebrated the greatest success of his career when he became world champion in San Sebastián, Spain .

In 1999 he reported back with a stage win for the small team Jean Delatour at the Vuelta a España and won other smaller races until 2002. In 2003 he switched to Ag2r Prévoyance . From 2005 he drove for the Bouygues Télécom team and that year won the Paris – Camembert race for the third time after 2001 and 2003 . He retired in 2008 at the age of 39 after not receiving a contract for 2009 .

doping

After Brochard's victory at the 1997 World Cup, he tested positive for the narcotic drug lidocaine . However, since he had a medical certificate, he was not found guilty. It was said that Brochard suffered from disc problems and took the drug for that reason. The Festina masseur Willy Voet, who triggered the Festina scandal, claimed that the certificate was only issued about two weeks after the positive doping test in order to avoid a scandal. This was done directly through the UCI and FFC. According to Brochard, Voet administered a Spanish cortisone preparation to irregular performance enhancement (doping), which, however, also contained lidocaine. What Voet claims here should be classified as a tangible scandal from “the very top”. In any case, Voet's statements during the Festina affair have all come true.

In the rainbow jersey Brochard finally won a stage at the Midi Libre before he got involved in the Festina affair at the 1998 Tour de France . He confessed to EPO doping and was banned by the UCI . The ominous incidents at the 1997 World Cup were not discussed.